Trailer: Boyhood

Of all the highly anticipated films coming out this year, Richard Linklater's Boyhood is certainly right up there for me. Starring Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Ellar Coltrane, this groundbreaking coming-of-age drama is unique for being shot over a period of 12 years, using the same actors -- so we actually see them age on-screen before our very eyes. Kind of like Michael Apted's Up series, but not a documentary. Boyhood has already received plenty of rave reviews at festivals, and one imagine it screening at the NZIFF later this year. The first trailer is a thing of beauty:

Gravity: An exclusive alternate scene that redefines entire movie

I think I'm a little late to this (at least in "meme time"), but this is good... very good, in case you missed it...

Only God Forgives: VFX Showreel

To say that Nicolas Winding Refn's Thailand-set crime-noir Only God Forgives arrived last year to hugely polarising reactions would be an understatement -- it definitely didn't garner the same kind of consistent acclaim as his previous film, Drive. In fact most Fatso customers hated it, if this sampling of reviews are anything to go by:

But if you're a fan of the film and/or the director, you'll want to check out this clip that breaks down all the special effects shots. Love or hate him, you can't deny that Refn knows exactly what he wants to see on-screen... down to blinking eyes....

I'll be the first person to say that CGI is overused these days, BUT when it's used as smart and subtly as this, it can be a brilliant tool to help you achieve a very specific artistic vision that doesn't involve cities getting decimated. Good stuff.

Action Movie Kid is All Kinds of Awesome

What do you do when you're a special effects wiz at Dreamworks Animation with a kid? If you're Daniel Hashimoto, you turn your three-year-old's imagination into action-packed reality. Check out this super-cute compilation of short videos he's created with James, who gets to wield a light saber, fire rocket launchers, amongst other things...

Mash-Up: "James of Thrones"

Just perfect. Here's a beautiful marriage of James Brown's soulful 1966 single "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and Ramin Djawadi's opening credits theme for hit HBO series Game of Thrones...

Trailer: Lucy

It appears Luc Besson has yet to completely get ass-kicking femmes out of his system; I guess that's why we've got Lucy, an action thriller starring Scarlett Johansson -- who currently can be seen ass-kicking in Captain America: The Winter Soldier -- as a woman who swallows a super-drug that turns her into an superhuman ass-kicking femme, or something. Trailer definitely has a strong whiff of been-there-done-that about it, but hey, if you need some ScarJo/Black Widow action to tide you over until The Avengers 2 comes out, this could be your ticket. Watch her make Old Boy scream in the trailer below: